When OceanGate, the deep-sea exploration enterprise, created a promotional video for its ill-fated US$250,000-per-head trip to see the wreck of the Titanic, it told prospective passengers to “Get ready for what Jules Verne could only imagine – a 12,500-foot journey to the bottom of the sea.” Those behind the video hoped viewers would recognize the… Continue reading Classic literature still offers rich lessons about life in the deep blue sea
Imagine a world where we knew the name of Homer, but the poetry of The Odyssey was lost to us. That was the world of the early Italian Renaissance during the second half of the 15th century. Many people knew the names of some early poets of Italian literature – those who were active during the 13th… Continue reading How a lost manuscript revealed the first poets of Italian literature
Knife is Salman Rushdie’s account of how he narrowly survived an attempt on his life in August 2022, in which he lost his right eye and partial use of his left hand. The attack ironically came when Rushdie was delivering a lecture on “the creation in America of safe spaces for writers from elsewhere”, at… Continue reading In Knife, Salman Rushdie confronts a world where liberal principles like free speech are old-fashioned
William Blake’s Universe, the new (free) exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, is a celebration of work by the Romantic artist, writer and visionary. Famous now but little known in his lifetime, Blake (1757-1827) has been given star billing by Tate Britain recently. But at the Fitzwilliam, he is made to share the spotlight… Continue reading William Blake exhibition: making a European out of the poet and artist who never left England
India’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, implemented the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, in March 2024. Opponents of the law – which fast-tracks citizenship for undocumented, non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – decry the ways in which it discriminates against Muslims. As they did when the law was passed in… Continue reading Indian protesters look to poetic tradition to resist Modi’s Hindu nationalism
There is a striking photo, taken in 2015, of a deactivated nuclear missile at an air and space museum in Tucson, Arizona. Written in dust on this missile are the words, “Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds”. These words, from the Sanskrit scriptural text the Bhagavad Gita, are famously attributed to J… Continue reading ‘Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds’ – the Bhagavad Gita explained
“Italy had its renaissance, Germany its reformation, France had Voltaire”, the historian Will Durant once commented. Born François-Marie Arouet, Voltaire (1694-1778) was known in his lifetime as the “patriarch” of the French enlightenment. A man of extraordinary energy and abilities, he produced some 100 volumes of poetry, fiction, theatre, biblical and literary criticism, history and… Continue reading Voltaire’s Candide — a darkly satirical tale of human folly in times of crisis
Ransom Riggs’ first new series since the million-selling “Miss Peregrine” books will launch this summer. “Sunderworld, Vol. 1 The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry” begins the adventures of a Los Angeles teen who, after his mother’s death, has some surreal encounters in his everyday life. Dutton Books for Young Readers, a Penguin Random House imprint, will publish “Sunderworld” on… Continue reading ‘Miss Peregrine’ author Ransom Riggs to launch new fantasy series, ‘Sunderworld’
Diaries, Erasing False Lines and Annie Ernaux The ability to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ writing is a skill gradually acquired and perfected by the most avid readers. Some may attribute it to a simple game of recognition, where the skill of a writer is compared to the skill of their literary forefathers. If it… Continue reading Authenticity: a writer’s necessity
“I would be miserable cranking out a book every three or four years,” Donna Tartt mentioned offhandedly to The Telegraph, when asked about the ten years between the releases of her three books shortly after the release of The Goldfinch in 2013. With clockwork timing, May 2023 saw fans adamant that Tartt had a release… Continue reading The cult of irony: Donna Tartt’s 2023 release that didn’t exist
